Do you have a service based business that you’re looking to expand by offering more services?
Are your customers pressuring you to offer more services so they can reduce their number of suppliers?
While it may seem like an awesome opportunity, it could also hurt the growth of your business and put a strain on your financials.
I personally have fallen into this trap over the past 4 years and while the short term financial gain was great, it moved me away from the overall goals of the business.
Most likely if you have a service based business there is already a competition field offering either the same service or something closely similar. When you talk with potential customers, what makes you different to them? Are you a “Me too” provider that when asked about your services/capabilities your response is “I can do that too”?
Most of the time your focused service might be the one differentiating factor that makes you stand out, so changing that and expanding to offer more makes you less attractive to the potential customers.
By having a very focused niche and being the loudest provider of that service, it’s much easier to say “I’m the best at this because…” vs saying, “yes we offer that too”.
For example; A company that offers web design only to lawyers can have a deeper market penetration vs web design companies that offer their services to every type of company.
In manufacturing/industrial; A company that offers their services ONLY to the medical device industry will be viewed as a subject matter expert vs a company that offers to medical, aerospace, industrial, consumer goods, etc.
Regardless if you’re offering complex manufacturing solutions or janitorial services, focusing on a niche industry AND a niche service to that industry will be the best chance of you dominating the market.
